Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



S. E. BROWN.

MAIL BAG GATGHER AND DELIVERER. APPLIOATION FILED APR.20, 1912.

1,051,676. Patented Jan.28,1913.

2 SHEETSBHEET 1.

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MAIL BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERBR. APPLIOATION FILED APR.20,1912. 1 051,676 Patented Jan. 28, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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SAMUEL E. BROWN, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan.28,1913.

Application filed April 20, 1912. Serial No.. 692 ,020.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, SAMUEL E. BnowN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State ofWisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers and Deliverers, of which the following is as ecification.

his invention relates to improvements in means for delivering mail bags from and taking mail bags on moving trains at stations, the pbject of the inyention being to provide improved devices of this character by means of which mail'bags may be delivered from and taken on trains at full speed and without dan er of injuring the mail ba s, the postal 0 erks or persons at the rai way stations, the invention consisting in the construction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter scribed and claimed.

In the accom anying drawings :Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of a railway car provided with a mail delivery apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention and alsoshowing my improved apparatus for throwing a mail bag into the car through the door of the latter, as the car passes the station. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of the mail delivery apparatus on the plane indicated by the line aa of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of the apparatusffor throwing the mail bag on the car. Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the same on the plane indi- Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views.

For the purposes of this specification, a portion of a railway track is indicated at 1 and a portion of a railway mail car is indicated at 2, the door opening in the side of the car being indicated at 3. I will first. describe my improved apparatus for delivering mail bags from the car as the latter pass the stations.

On the inner side of the .car is a delivery chute 4 which is tubular and is here shown as rectangular in cross section. This delivery chute is arranged diagonally in the car at an angle to the car wall'and its outer end is attached to the inner side of the car Wall at a point at the upper end of the door opening, the delivery chute being held in an'elevated position in the car and arranged horizontally. The chute is detachably secured in place and in practice, is so arranged that it may be attached to either side of the car. The outer end of the delivery chute is open. Its inner end is closed as. at 5 and the inner end wall of the delivery chute has an opening 6 through which extends a plunger rod 7. In practice, the delivery chute is about seven feet long and the delivery chute points rearwardly in the car.

A plunger 8 is arranged for operation longitudinally in the delivery chute and is attached to the rod 7. A spring 9 is arranged around the plunger rod and hears between the inner end 5 of the delivery chute and the inner side of the plunger.

The plunger rod is provided at its outer end with a stop head 10 and has rack teeth 11 on its upper side and in one side of the plunger rod near the outer end thereof is a notch or recess 12 which is adapted to be engaged by a trigger 13 to lock the plunger rod and the plunger when the latter is drawn rearwardly 1n the delivery chute so as to compress the spring. In order to thus move the plun er rearwardly, I provide a pinion 14 w ich is arranged on a shaft 15, the said shaft being also rovided with a hand wheel or crank 16 an having its bearing in a pivotally mounted block 17. When the shaft 15 is arranged in a substantially horizontal position and its pinion 14 engages the rack teeth on the upper side of the plunger rod and by turning the said shaft by means of its hand wheel or crank 16, the pinion co-acts with the rack teeth of the plunger rod to draw the latter rearwardly and compress the spring, the trigger by engaging'the notch or recess in the side of the lunger rod serving to lock the latter and the plunger rod in set position. In one side of the delivery chute is an opening 18 whichinay be closed by a hinge door 19. When the plunger has been thus withdrawn and the sprin compressed, the door may be opened an a mail bag placed .in the delivery chute medially in ront of the plun er. The door is their closed and fastene and the pinion 14 disengaged from the rack teeth of the plunger 10 As the train passes the station where it is desired to deliver the mail, the attendant in,the mail car operates the trigger as the car passes the station, thereby releasing the plunger and, hence, the spring forces the plunger outwardly and causes it to discharge the mail bag diagonally and rear- .arm has a forwardly extending member 22 and. a rearwardly extending member 23 arranged at a slight angle to each other, the

member 22 extending substantially in the direction of the movement of the train and being provided at its free end, on the side next the track, with a recess 24 which -pre-' sents a laterally inclined cam surface 25, a cushioning device which may be made of rubber, leather or the like and which is indicated at 26, being secured on the said cam face. At the rear end of the member 23 of the throwing arm is a vertically arranged member 27 which I will term a hand member. This/ hand member is hinged at its rear side as at 28 and its front side is connected to the arm by a flexible link element such as a short length of chain or strap 29. Hence, the hand element is adapted to turn angularly with respect to the throwing arm to some extent to remain substantially parallel with the track or the side of the passing car while the throwing arm is moving through an arm toward'the side of the car and, hence, the approach of the hand element to the car is diagonal and in the dire'c-.

tion of the movement of the car. This hand element is provided at its upper and lower ends with attaching pins 30 which may be engaged-by rings or the like at the upper.

and lower ends of a mail sack.

At a suitable distance in front and to one side of the pivotally supporting post. 20 is a stopping post 31 against which the member 22 of the throwing arm is adapted to strike. To lock the throwing arm in in operative position, I provide a hook 32 which is pivotally .connected to the stopping post and may be engaged withithe member 22 of 'the throwing arm. f

In order to operate the throwing arm as a mail car passes the station, I provide the car in the side which is opposed to the throwing arm with an opening 33 which is at a suitable distance in advance. of the door opening and. also provide holding cleats at opposite sides of said opening and which project from opposite sides of through the opening and is arranged to be moved outwardly and inwardly from the side of the car and is, in practice, provided with a stop pin 36 to limit its outward movement.

The operation of this apparatus is as follows :When it is desired to place mail on a passing railway car, the mail bag is secured on the hand element by the means and in the manner hereinbefore described and the throwing arm is arranged in a position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, with its cushion 26 in the path of movement of the 'tappet35 projected fromithe side of the car, the attendant on the car thus adjusting the tappet and the. attendant at the station engaging a hook rod 36? with the hand element to hold the latter. and the throwing arm in initial position, the said hook rod being secured on the lower portion of the stopping post. As the train passes the station, the tappet 35 strikes the cushion or cam 26 and thereby causes the throwing v I arm to be violently sw'ungthrough a partial rotation until it is arrested by striking the stopping post 31. The efiect of such movement and stopping of the throwing arm is to cause the hand element of the latter to throw the mail bag forwardly and diagonally through the open doorway in the side of the mail car and onto the floor of thecar, without danger of injury to persons in the car or to the mail bag.

While I have herein shown and described one form of my invention, Iwouldhave it understood that changes may be made in the form, proportion and construction of the several parts without departing from the spirit of my invention and within. the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:--

A 'mail bag projecting chute having a plunger movable longitudinally therein and provided with a rearwardly extending rack rod, a spring to project the plunger, a shaft having a crank handle and also provided with a pinion to engagetherack bar-of the plunger. and a bearing for the said shaft in which the latter is mounted for pivotal movement to enable the pinion to be engaged with and dlsengaged from the plunger rack bar.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa{ ture in presence of two. witnesses.

SAMUEL E. BROWN.

Witnesses:

BASIL R. MEDLEY, WILLIAM F. HOWARD. 

